The following day, as early as seven in the morning I began preparing for work. I showered up, wore my pantsuit and then headed downstairs to take breakfast.
Luckily, aunt Vicky was the only one in the dining island. Jessica was probably in her room. That was great, I wouldn't have to worry about her troubles.
"Morning, aunt" I greeted the sad looking woman and sat opposite her in the dining table.
"Morning, Laura" she crooked a smile on her face and gently continued eating her meal. She actually paused earlier and was staring at one direction, it was obvious she was deep in her thoughts. "You ready for work already?" she asked.
"Yes, I want to be a good girl on my first day at work" I sarcastically said, hoping to plaster a genuine smile on her face with my little joke.
"I see," she chuckled, "anyways, make sure you don't get your suit stained with the soup, you don't want to be seen with a stained suit" she warned.
"Alright, aunt. I will be careful" I assured her as I gently began eating my own food. It was a noddle soup.
We had we decided to try one of Asian's favourite delicacies, there was a new restaurant in town. We ordered from there. However, we couldn't get the chopsticks to eat the noodles with. The restaurant's manager apologized for the mishap.
"How is Jessica, I hope she's fine?" I curiously asked.
"I haven't checked on her, but I have seen her online recently. She's obviously fine" she said.
"That's great, I think she's processing everything all together. I just hope the police should not show up in our doorstep again" I uttered.
"I hope so too" she said.
After devouring my breakfast, I bade her goodbye and left her still eating hers. Gently. So sad there was nothing I could do to ease her affairs or take her pains away.
Jessica really messed up, and all the things she did was enough to land her mother into such situation. By the way, I guess Reade would be coming today to introduce himself, how I wish I could stay so I could hear what the deceiveer had to say.
However, even if he's so lucky to convince or overwhelm aunt Vicky, there was no way the police would ever allow him to fly Jessica to Oxford when the stolen jewelries case is still ongoing. And by the looks of it, the case wouldn't be ending soon.
Finally, my sister would be safe from that monster. He wouldn't have the chance to con or cheat her. He would be so disappointed to find out his prey is under the protection of the police, or should I say on house arrest.
Although, there was no device installed on Jessica's leg. I didn't know about others though, however I guess the police just didn't want to humiliate the family of someone that had once worked in their department.
While patiently waiting for the Go Travel cab I ordered, one of our neighbors' daughter kept staring at me while leaning by her father's sport utility vehicle.
Why was she staring at me? I actually didn't know too, and she was chewing a gum and popping it every now and then. That sounded disrespectful, was she disdaining me? I glared at her. Just then she smiled and turned her face away.
The girl was, to my scrutiny in her early teens and was obviously a high school student. When her parents came out, they stared at me as well. I didn't like the expression on their faces but I was glad my cab arrived.
I quickly hoped in and off we went. That was great. I was new in Cornfield and didn't know much about the people around, however I used to hear Aunt Vicky referring to that family as 'nosy neighbors'.
Must of the time if I step out of the house, I didn't used to look towards them but whenever I do I would find someone staring towards me should they be around. And the person will quickly turn his or her face when I catch them.
But this time around, it was a different story and I didn't seem to like it. They were probably aware of what was going on in our house. I mean, the ongoing investigation by the police about the stole jewelri...
My thought was interrupted by the sudden halt initiated by the cabman. It was so violent that I nearly got myself injured if not for the seatbelt I fastened, it glued me to the passenger seat.
"What the..." I muttered, "What just happened, did you hit something?" I curiously asked.
"No, but almost. Sorry for the abrupt braking please" he apologized.
"It's okay, but what was that? Was a deer?" I asked. Actually, I had that hunch that it was a deer.
"No," he proved my hunch wrong, "it was a cat. She was trying to help one of her kittens cross the road" he elaborated as he continued driving.
"Oh, that's great. You did a good job, really!" I commended him, even though I should be telling him to be vigilant while driving and to avoid speeding in Cornfield stroke Mainland highway, as there were different animals around in the woods.
"Thank you, mam" he said wearing a confused look, perhaps he knew he didn't deserve the accolades. However, did he just called me Mam, like the rest of the cab drivers? Huhh!
I was tired of correcting them already, even though I was fed up. Why were they calling me Mam when I was even up to thirty yet? Was I looking old already or something?
I don't think so. I don't really think I was getting old the fact that I used to check my reflection in the mirror everyday, and all that I used to see was a young me – looking beautifully.
They probably used to call me Mam because they didn't used to look at me clearly, or perhaps because they thought I deserved to be respected that way. Right?
When we arrived at the Walters Mansion, I called Frank on phone and told him I was outside. "Alright, wait there. I will send someone to come get you now" he said.
"Alright" I uttered, and the call disconnected.
While waiting to be picked, I looked around the environment. It was so quiet. All you could practically hear was the sounds of birds and the rustling of leaves.
The Walters Mansion was the only large building building, the rest were small houses and trailers, scattered around the woods.
Legend has it, the road leading to the Walters Mansion was constructed by the Walters Family many decades ago, and they were the first settlers there and they intended to be the only settlers however, a handful of people were curious and decided to relocate to the area too.
According to some blogs, Mr. Walters wasn't happy with their move. Hence, he decided not to share his electricity (power) with the other people around. He sourced his power through wind turbines, stationed around the open fields in the area.
All that information, I got them from a random history website though. I would like to confirm them from Frank, but that shouldn't be now. I mean, today would be a busy day for me, right? And I wouldn't like my first day at work to be all about his family history.
Some minutes later, a short range car, obviously electric came and the gates opened. The person driver was a fierce looking man in black suit, wearing a surveillance earpiece on one of his ears.
He pulled over close to me and glanced at me, "Miss Laura?" he asked.
"Yes!" I replied joyfully. Finally, someone called me Miss. Funny, right? Well, I ought to be excited.
"Hop in, please" he said.
"Okay" I uttered and quickly did as told.
Thus, he made a U-turn and drove me into the mansion. That was my second time being in the Walters Mansion. It was as perfect as I last saw it. Some of the guards even recognized me as they all focused their attention on me, or were they just trying to make sure I wasn't a threat?
However, the maids truly recognized me. At least the ones I made contact with on my first visit. One of them was the woman that ushered me in, and others served both Frank and I in the dining room.
As soon as we arrived at Frank's chamber, I saw him putting on his cuff links with a maid standing right close to him while holding a suitcase that seemed to be his. Where was he going to? Was he traveling or something?
"Wow, Laura, you look amazing" he commented on my dressing. But amazing? I thought a woman would only look amazing to billionaires when she showcases her cleavage or wears tight and light dresses.
"Awwwn," I blushed, "thank you"
"You are welcome" he said, quickly snatched his suitcase from the maid and watched as she took her bow and left. He then dismissed the security guard that escorted me to him.
"So, are you ready now?" he wrinkled a brow at me.
"For the work? Sure, I am" I said.
"Okay, let's head to our head office. It's few miles away from here" he said as he walked over to me.
"Few miles away? I thought I was going to work here, I mean... I thought the head office is somewhere around here" I uttered, surprised, and stared at him as he chuckled unbelievably.
"Nah, it's not here. Not even close, and not far either" he paused and continued, "But it's a nice place. Trust me, you would like it"
"Hmm, okay. Let's see" I huffed.
"Alright" he said snd began leading the way.
As soon as we were outside the mansion, we hopped into one of his sport cars. It was so comfortable, although it looked as if we were more closer to the ground surface than when in a cab, Sedan or SUV.
"Don't forget to fasten your seatbelt, dear" he reminded me while wearing a befitting smile.
"Thank you" I smiled back at him.
One thing I noticed in him was, he loved smiling. And it used to make him more cute, or should I say handsome? Well, anyone will do.
Men like him, they deserved prizes for the most handsome men in the world. I didn't practically like praising men, or complementing their looks but to be honest Frank was just too handsome to not be complemented.
Sometimes I used to wonder why the women around weren't thrilled by his handsomeness, he could walk around the streets without being bothered by women.
As the sport car revved and began moving, I heaved a sigh and relaxed. Enjoying the fresh air dispensed by the air-conditioning. It was really amazing, the feeling of being driven in an expensive sport car by one of the richest and wonderful people in the world.
"I talked to my mom about you," Frank broke the silence that had crept upon us.
"Like seriously?" I wrinkled a brow at him. I never knew he would do that so soon, and what did he even said about me? Did he told her we were just friends? If that was what he said, I would be glad because I didn't want to be in trouble. All those affluents, they wouldn't like their children to mingle with poor people like us.
"Yes, but I didn't tell my dad yet" I huffed.
"What did she say?" I said referring to his mother.
"She said she would like to see you when she returned back from her trip, and I guess that would be next week. Her flight has been rescheduled, some technical error with the flight instruments" he explained.
"Oh, but that's simple, right? Since she could board another plane from another airline" I uttered.
"It's not a commercial plane, it's one of our family's business jets" he said rendering me speechless.
